All posts in category aspca

A veterinarian in Hoke Co, NC filed a report with police after euthanizing a horse, reportedly for malnutrition. The sheriff’s office obtained a warrant for the property, where a rescuer had been housing animals saved from pet killing facilities, and found approximately 120 animals, including horses, dogs, cats, goats and birds:

Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin said this is one of the worst cases he has seen in his 14 years as sheriff.

“It was sad to see those animals. It’s like they were happy to see us, the minute we opened the barn to let the horses out, they ran out and wanted to eat on the grass.”

Happy horses in a barn. Hmm. I am not a horse owner but that doesn’t sound particularly damning to me. I am guessing that most horses are probably happy to be let out of their shelter and like to run out and chomp-chomp on the grass. So how bad off were these 120 animals?

“There is no way she could not have seen what we saw. No way she couldn’t have known these animals were suffering and dying,” Peterkin said.
[…]
“Had we not gotten notification when we did, we would have a lot of dead animals.”

Wow. So these animals were literally on the brink of death. Gasping their last. Clinging to life. Skin stretched over their bones, presumably.

The dogs look ok to me, although a few are a wee bit chubby. But in keeping with the drama, the sheriff called in the ASPCA to take all the animals away. And to rag on the owner some more:

“I would say that she didn’t go to these shelters to intentionally bring them here and then intentionally neglect them. The intent to neglect them came in when she failed to provide the care that she knows that they needed,” said Kathryn Destreza, director of investigations with the ASPCA. “I think, possibly, she thought she was doing the right thing, but I have to believe that the reality is at some point she knows she’s not doing the right thing by these animals and that’s inexcusable.”

She has to believe that at some point there was wrongdoing. She just has to. Because otherwise that would mean there was no wrongdoing. And they just took someone’s animals away for no reason. Which would be – erm, inexcusable.

When deputies searched the property last week, Destreza said, they found animals had no food, no water and had received no veterinary care.

“To me, that’s a tragedy,” she said. “They should have been better off then they had been.”

They apparently had food and water. Let’s not pretend that the tubbos were starving to death. As for vet care, I can’t say. I don’t even see an elbow callous or long toenails, let alone anything that would be described as a tragedy. Now I will grant you 120 animals is an awful lot for one person to take care of, IF that was the case here, which I don’t know. Maybe she needed some help? Maybe placing some of the animals would have gotten her down to a number she was better able to care for? Maybe the ASPCA could provide some education on how to find permanent homes for pets so she doesn’t get overwhelmed in future? I guess that all sounds like work. And not at all sexy. Better to yell tragedy and worst I’ve ever seen and imminent mass death and get those photos for the fundraising emails and on to the next.

The rescuer has been charged with one felony count of animal cruelty and is due in court next on August 10. She has been ordered by the court to have no contact with the animals while the ASPCA finishes hauling them off.

I wish the Hoke Co pound would start doing its job and actually sheltering animals instead of killing them. Imagine how the community could work together to save animals if there was a true shelter in place. Rescuers could partner with the shelter instead of operating in crisis management mode year round. Law enforcement could shift their focus to other priorities, knowing the county’s lost and stray pets were safe. And the ASPCA could go home and stay there.

On Tuesday, the police in Huntersville, NC, accompanied by Char-Meck AC and representatives from the ASPCA, raided a property allegedly used for dogfighting and seized 16 adult pitbulls and 7 puppies. The dogs have been taken to a secret location. No one has been charged at this point but the investigation is ongoing.

“They’re alive, but they are in various states of medical conditions,” she said. “They’re not pets by any means, not like your dog, but they’re currently going through their medical evaluations.”

They’re not pets by any means. They’re not like your dog. Gee, that’s so weird because they remind me very much of my dog:

This lovely dog in Huntersville, NC is pictured on the ASPCA website with a fat head and a sweet expression.

My dog has a fat head and a sweet expression too.

This sweet dog in Huntersville, NC is pictured in a video on the ASPCA website getting a scratch and a hug from a person.

My dog likes to get a scratch and a hug too.

This pup in Huntersville, NC is pictured in a video on the ASPCA website giving kisses to her buddy.

My dog likes to give kisses to her buddy too.

So weird, right? But I guess they’re not like my dog somehow, even though they totally seem like my dog. Because ASPCA.

Rescued. Smeared. Taken to a secret location. And, I presume, already being used for fundraising purposes by the ASPCA.

What say you, unwashed masses? Do the dogs in Huntersville remind you of your dog? Could a dog who hasn’t been treated as a pet in past start being treated like one and possibly like it? Will anyone stand up for these dogs and demand their rights to live, to love and to be loved be protected? If only there was some kind of society for the prevention of cruelty to animals that could do that.

In January and February 2015, the ASPCA and NYPD seized 175 rabbits from a woman in Brooklyn. The rabbits were reportedly living outdoors, suffering from syphilis, conjunctivitis and other illnesses. Logo jackets were donned, sad rabbits were displayed, photographs were taken and presumably, donations were collected. Since the seizure, approximately 60 more bunnies have been born. And the bills for housing the animals have been adding up all these months.

The owner was charged with animal cruelty but has yet to go to trial. She has claimed the rabbits were part of a breeding scheme, designed to produce pastel colored bunnies and make her a multi-millionaire. I wonder where she got the wacky idea that there are millions to be made off animals.

The ASPCA sent an attorney to a bond hearing in the case last week to fight for permission from the judge to kill the seized animals. The judge ruled in favor of the bunnies:

“None of the rabbits shall be killed,” the judge order, adding, “If they die of natural causes that’s one thing, but if they need to be euthanized you need a further order.”

The judge ordered the owner to pay the ASPCA for the cost of caring for the rabbits but it’s not known if or when that might happen.

Anyhoo, so tragic. The ASPCA is going to have to actually do their jobs and prevent cruelty to animals instead of inflicting it via mass bunny killing. And they’re going to have to open up their fat wallet and part with some dollars too. *single tear*

The ASPCA and the Mayor’s Alliance are teaching more people how to gut pregnant cats whose kittens are so close to being born that they would survive the gutting. Euphemistically referred to as “late term spay”, this horrific practice inflicts violence on both the mother cat and her unborn babies. Once cut out of the mama cat’s belly, each kitten helplessly crawls around until someone kills her. Mama is sewn up and, if she survives the risky procedure, is left to grieve for her kittens whom she knew were alive inside her when the ASPCA vet gave her an injection and are now inexplicably, heartbreakingly gone. So much for that prevention of cruelty to animals thing.

And all this needless killing can be kept off the shelter’s books since the kittens are not counted as intakes – only the mama cat. So the shelter’s live release rate can be touted as an achievement even as it masks the killing of kittens deemed so valueless by the shelter they were never even counted as being alive, despite the fact that they most definitely were.

When I saw a link tweeted by the Mayor’s Alliance and the Feral Cat Initiative on Twitter advertising the ghastly “workshop” above, I chimed in with my two cents:

To be clear, yes there is always a possibility that a kitten, just like any other living being, might die prematurely from an accident or illness. There is also an excellent chance that she might not, especially if shelters do their jobs to protect life and get homeless animals adopted. But it is absurd to attempt to justify the killing of viable kittens, ripped from their mother’s belly, in order to protect them from the possibility of premature death. Late term spay is premature death for kittens. Death doesn’t get any more premature than that.

I am not saying it’s easy for shelters to handle all the pregnant cats they receive. I get that it’s a challenge. What I’m saying is that it’s wrong to kill the kittens who are alive inside these pregnant cats and that option shouldn’t even be on the table at any so-called shelter, let alone a routine practice.

Reaching out to the community for assistance with temporary foster homes is one way to allow the kittens to be born without placing any burden on the shelter. Partnering with feral colony caretakers is another tool which allows shelters to keep tabs on mama cats and kittens within colonies in order to trap animals at the right time for spaying the mother and taming/adopting the kittens.

There are always alternatives to killing and groups like the ASPCA and the Mayor’s Alliance should be the ones leading the way in protecting the lives of animals. Instead they are promoting the heinous practice of killing viable kittens while inflicting emotional and physical harm to mother cats.

The county claims that all animals are vaccinated upon intake but given the current investigation, that appears to be questionable. When asked why the 16 dogs did not receive supportive care, Brian Sheahan, Lake Co community safety and compliance director, offered 2 justifications for the killings: treatment is “extraordinarily expensive” (not necessarily) and the county is “following the ASPCA guidelines” regarding parvo. That second thing appears to be accurate, tragically.

Dogs that are owned by the shelter but not strong adoption candidates are immediately euthanized.

As for the definition of “not strong adoption candidates” – it’s anything goes. And if that’s not broad enough for you, the ASPCA gives additional leeway:

Dogs and puppies diagnosed with CPV may be euthanized for the following reasons:

1) No space at veterinary clinic to treat
2) Not adoption candidate
3) Failure to improve with treatment (defined by shelter veterinary discretion)
4) Parvo in addition to other illness

It’s disappointing to see that the ASPCA is not only providing cover for the needless killing of shelter pets but hasn’t updated its guidelines to reflect lifesaving as a priority for shelters dealing with parvo. Diagnosis of disease is never a license to kill pets. Decisions must be made on an individual basis utilizing the prognosis for each animal provided by a veterinarian. It’s unclear if testing even occurred at Lake Co, let alone obtaining a prognosis for each individual dog from a vet.

Lake Co is no stranger to failure. The public has long been critical of the needless pet killing at the facility. The current director, on the job for just months, is quitting. The county manager stated last week that he would request an audit of the pound’s intake and vaccination protocols. Wow, you really want to go that far? Color me underwhelmed.

Apparently the county politicians are only interested in scraping the tip of the iceberg then applying a band-aid to the pound’s image. I hope the public will continue to demand meaningful reform at the Lake Co pound, including the implementation of the proven programs of the No Kill Equation. Continued killing while hiding behind the skirts of the ASPCA is not going to cut it.

Pulaski Co dog breeder Dennis Bradley told a local reporter with a hidden camera that he had 58 dogs on his property, at least a dozen of them under 8 weeks of age, in November 2013. The reporter from WAVE in Kentucky filmed dozens of dogs crammed into filthy, rusted wire cages from which they were obviously never removed. Among the breeds depicted in the video are Chihuahuas, Boston Terriers and Bloodhounds. The reporter asks him how much for a Schnauzer puppy and is told $300 for a female and $250 for a male. This certainly appears to be a dog breeding operation to my eyes, and a very poorly maintained one at that.

The strangest aspect of the November story is that Dennis Bradley’s rescue breeding facility had already been raided by the sheriff in January 2013, at which time he was charged with animal cruelty:

Video taken by the sheriffs department shows some of Bradley’s dogs sick and near death. Two were in such bad shape they had to be put to sleep.

So why is Bradley still in business? Animal rescue groups say shutting down a puppy mill can cost up to $70,000 in shelter, food and medical expenses for the dogs they remove. Sometimes, groups like the Animal Rescue Corps will pay the cost, as it did when it broke up an alleged puppy mill in Wayne County in September.

No group stepped in to help Pulaski County financially, and investigators decided taking all 70 dogs they found on Bradley’s property would overwhelm the shelter system. So they removed the dogs in the poorest conditions and asked animal control to make sure Bradley took better care of the animals left behind. [emphasis added]

“Upon arrival detectives discovered several dogs in pens/cages outside which were obviously sick. Several dogs suffered from having skin ailments and two appeared to be near death,” states the citation, filed by Det. Glen Bland. “Many of the dogs were living in poor conditions without proper shelter. Most pens were (too) small and were covered in mud and feces.”

Former Pulaski County Animal Shelter Director Darren Wesley would eventually remove 21 dogs from the property — some of which were euthanized after they tested positive for parvo.

After allowing dogs to languish in these conditions for another full year, authorities finally received assistance from the ASPCA and worked out a plea deal with the owner. Bradley pleaded guilty to one count of second degree animal cruelty. He received 24 months’ probation and surrendered all but 5 dogs, including one elderly dog. He will not be allowed to have more than 4 dogs or to re-start his breeding business during the probation period. Does this strike anyone as a good deal that protects dogs or does it look more like the appearance of justice, suitable for framing around a full color donation plea?

It’s nice that the ASPCA finally used its vast resources to help these suffering dogs but with all those donated dollars in their bank account, couldn’t they have helped sooner? Even if they didn’t have a full team available to deploy any time within the past year, couldn’t they have sent one person and hired some local people to assist? Or at least thrown enough cash at the problem that the county could afford to provide the needed care itself? I notice once the ASPCA finally rolled into Pulaski Co, they moved super fast to get this plea for cash out to donors:

Screengrab from the ASPCA website

When a county sheriff raids a facility containing sick and dying dogs alongside newborn puppies, has video to document the inhumane conditions, provides sufficient evidence to get cruelty charges filed against the owner, but lacks the resources to help the dogs, this should be the kind of thing the multi-million dollar animal welfare groups get on yesterday – not one year later. Does it matter to anyone at the ASPCA that dozens of dogs were left living in horrible conditions in the care of someone charged with animal cruelty for an entire year for lack of resources? And then when they finally decide to show up, it’s all ASPCA logo jackets for the cameras and donation pleas and press releases – as if the ASPCA just busted this place this week. In truth, the cruelty charge stems from the work done by the local sheriff one year ago and the dogs needed help then.

I imagine we might end up seeing these Pulaski Co dogs in a TV commercial with a Sarah McLachlan song. If and when that happens, remember they were knowingly left to suffer in tiny cages in the care of someone charged with animal cruelty for an entire year while the ASPCA closed its checkbook to Pulaski Co and counted its money.

A troubling situation developed in Delaware yesterday and more information is needed. I am asking for help from readers if they come across any additional media reports or press releases from relevant parties regarding this story today.

The scattered facts, as I understand them:

Delaware has a law called the Companion Animal Protection Act (CAPA) which requires shelters to give at least 2 business days’ notice to rescuers before killing any healthy/treatable animal.

The Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary in Delaware was set to close on November 30. I do not know the reason why. They previously held an animal control contract but recently lost it. Safe Haven reportedly asked the ASPCA last month to help shut down the shelter in an orderly manner and ASPCA agreed.

Suddenly yesterday, the closing of Safe Haven got moved up – to yesterday. I do not know the reason why.

Safe Haven reportedly posted a comment on its Facebook page last night about what may be the unlawful killing of dogs there:

“Some dogs, due to severe behavior issues, were such a threat to other animals or humans, that they were unsuitable for adoption,” the statement said. “Some dogs were humanely euthanized.”

The Safe Haven Facebook page has since been deleted.

The News Journal also reports:

It’s not clear how many dogs remained at Safe Haven until this week, because the shelter did not post intake statistics on its website for the third quarter of 2013, which the state’s Companion Animal Protection Act mandates shelters do.

The law also requires shelters to maintain “a registry of organizations willing to accept animals for the purpose of adoption,” and are not supposed to euthanize any animal if organizations on the registry are willing to accept it.

[Former Safe Haven volunteer Karli] Swope said rescue groups she is familiar with had not received notices from Safe Haven indicating it was considering euthanizing any of its dogs.

The Sussex Countian spoke with several area rescuers who showed up at Safe Haven yesterday to pull dogs. They claim Safe Haven officials had given them permission to come to the facility and save dogs. But when they arrived, they found the ASPCA’s giant truck and a hostile environment:

However these people were turned away by the ASPCA, who eventually called the Delaware State Police and reported the prospective adopters were trespassing on private property.

[…]

Speculations surrounding whether the ASPCA was euthanizing the remaining dogs onsite were discounted by Capt. Sean Moriarty of DSP Troop 4 in Georgetown. Moriarty said he saw the dogs inside a large ASPCA truck, and they were all alive.

“I’m not sure exactly where they’re going; mostly out of state. Some are going to a facility in the state, but we don’t know where,” Moriarty said on Thursday at Safe Haven.

There were an unknown number of dogs, possibly 20, at Safe Haven at the time ASPCA locked the doors and called police to keep rescuers out. I haven’t seen any reports indicating what ASPCA did with the dogs.

I am not an attorney but it appears to me that possibly both Safe Haven and the ASPCA may have violated Delaware’s CAPA law in the handling of dogs at the facility. I hope some clarifications and additional facts come to light today and that the remaining dogs are safe. I further hope the appropriate authorities will investigate to determine if Safe Haven and/or the ASPCA should be charged with violations of Delaware’s CAPA law.

Several of you have sent in links pertaining to the recent multi-state seizure of 367 dogs in connection with a dogfighting bust. And almost everyone who did also asked the question: What will happen to the dogs?

Since the ASPCA and HSUS are involved, I will speculate based on past performance: Already overburdened rescue groups will be tasked with saving many of these dogs, forcing them to stretch their meager resources even further and to create space where none currently exists. Local dogs in need of rescue will be displaced. ASPCA and/or HSUS will probably leave some of the dogs at pet killing facilities under cover of night and will never reveal what happened to the dogs. But none of this will occur until after ASPCA and HSUS feel they have sufficient video and photos of the dogs featuring people dressed in logo’d attire, for future exploitation purposes aimed at suckering compassionate animal lovers into padding their enormous bank accounts.

In short, the only ones likely to come out of this situation in the WIN column are those who get their paychecks from ASPCA and HSUS. For everyone else involved, both human and canine, it’s a crapshoot, at best.

Under the deal with the state, the criminal charges against Grant will be dropped if he agrees to take his medication, pay costs to the state attorney’s office and is not arrested within the next 24 months.

“He’s allowed to have animals. He’s allowed to have up to whatever many cats the local County ordinances allow,” said [Mr. Grant’s attorney, David] Collins.

Some context here: ASPCA seized 700 cats and 2 dogs, including Mr. Grant’s personal pets, from Caboodle Ranch and disposed of them as they saw fit. Many were adopted during 3 mass adoption events. I don’t know what happened to the rest of the animals and I suspect the ASPCA will never provide those details.

The ASPCA pads its bank account with nearly $150 million in donations every year and yet had the audacity to file a suit against Mr. Grant seeking “reimbursement” of the $1 million it says was spent caring for the seized cats. How can an organization seek to be “reimbursed” for having spent funds on animal care when the money was donated by animal lovers who thought it would be used to help animals? Check out the ASPCA invoice for expenses which includes a staggering number of flights in and out of Jacksonville, hotel fees, food bills and the following line items:

267: $4920.42 for utensils, etc.

412: $2048.60 to change light bulbs

1173: $18 for vegan cupcakes for shelter workers

And then there are the consulting fees:

154: $2000 for 5 days of consultant fees to Katie Flood

310: $800 for 2 days of consultant fees for James Brenneman

914: $3200 for 2 weeks of consultant fees for Aldo Wilson

971: $2800 for 2 weeks of consultant fees for Phree Phillips

988: $1000 for 5 days of consultant fees for Joanna Fogarty

1005 $1000 for 5 days of consultant fees for Laura MacDougall

1026 and 1027: $2800 for 7 days of consultant fees for Tonya Loreman

1043: $800 for 2 days of consultant fees for Mary Manspeaker

1052: $4400 for 11 days of consultant fees for Elizabeth Maxwell

1153: $39,688 estimated consultant fees up to April 30, 2012

I picked out the above entries at random but there are many, many more entries for consultant fees. ASPCA apparently needed a lot of consultants during the months following the seizure. I thought ASPCA folks were supposed to be the experts? I mean, with the amount of money spent on consultants, couldn’t they have gotten someone off the unemployment line with no animal experience and just put that person in charge instead? At least then I could understand the need to fly in expert after expert, week after week, month after month, for their advice.

At any rate, the court did not award ASPCA their million bucks. In fact, the judge’s ruling seems to indicate (to my layman’s understanding) that the ASPCA had not been officially appointed an agent of the state prior to the seizure and therefore had no standing to file for expenses incurred. My question would then be, if the ASPCA had no official designation from the state to act in this case, on what legal basis did they dispose of the seized animals?

Mr. Grant clearly seems to have an interest in relocating and starting a new cat sanctuary. Regardless of whether you believe Caboodle was a great place for cats, the nightmare of neglect and suffering described by the ASPCA and PETA, or fell somewhere in between, one must ask at this point – what was all this for? The raid, the mass seizure, the mass adoption events which could have theoretically been used to find homes for cats already in shelters, the court cases – what was it all for? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Some of you might remember when A Second Chance Animal Shelter in Manning, SC shipped 41 of their dogs off to places that kill pets via the ASPCA. At that time, I made inquiries to A Second Chance, an organization that describes itself as “low to no kill”, but they were less than thrilled about the prospect of providing me with information. This time, I will let the group’s website speak for itself. Here is a screengrab of Merlin’s listing there today:

The text beneath Merlin’s photo describes him as an “AKC Registered, male Weimeraner (sic) puppy” and instructs interested buyers to call for his selling price. Today I received an e-mail from someone who inquired about Merlin as well as the response she says she received:

I was so excited to see the AKC Weimeraner puppy on your Web site. I would like to know how much he is . I have been looking for one forever. He is so pretty. My cell phone is in the shop and I do not have a house phone so please send me all the information so i can show my husband. We have a female that needs a buddy . Thank you so much.

Merlin’s adoption fee is $500.00. He’s up to date on vaccines and has his papers. He will not be neutered, unless you want him to be. May I ask what website you’re looking at? If you’re still interested in Merlin, please feel welcome to visit him anytime. Our hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday, 9am to 3pm. We can be reached by email or by the number listed below. We look forward to hearing from/seeing you.

On its website, A Second Chance includes “population control” and “spay and neuter programs” in its mission statement. LOL redux.

When I contacted A Second Chance in 2011, the organization described itself as “low to no kill”. That appears to have changed, at least according to the website:

We are a “No-Kill” shelter and some animals will stay with us all their lives– those that are handicapped, those who cannot emotionally recover from their experiences and cannot be placed in a home, and some that are just not “cute” enough to be chosen.

Except for the 41 long term resident dogs shipped off with the ASPCA to places that kill animals, that could almost sound truthful.

It’s so nice that the ASPCA was able to clear out the black & uglies from this place to make room for profitable little stud dogs like Merlin. I don’t imagine A Second Chance will be calling the ASPCA to take Merlin off their hands anytime soon.